5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Sept 8)

Ups...

5. An Acceptable Opener

Damage CTRL Bayley IYO SKY Charlotte Flair Shotzi
WWE.com

The opener was solid despite reversions about Charlotte Flair teaming with Shotzi. Flair tends to hog spotlight rather than lifting partners up, but what we got on Friday was fine. The tag bout resulted in another win for Shotzi over Bayley, and there was decent energy in the building.

WWE's next challenge is shifting Shotzi out of this sort of scenario without tanking her potential. Is she rough around the edges in-ring? Undoubtedly. Can those wrinkles be ironed out if creative shows faith and puts emphasis on her charming real-life reasons for that head shave? 100%.

Will they? It remains to be seen.

It is, however, hard to argue with in-ring action like this. Shotzi would maybe benefit from a full-time partner (someone other than Charlotte, obviously), because some of her shortcomings are masked by tag bouts. Meanwhile, Bayley and IYO SKY continue to showcase their chemistry.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.